Paras drops 25 but Niigata fall short of Kyoto in opener

MANILA, Philipines — A 25-point outing from Kobe Paras was not enough for the Niigata Albirex BB who fell against the Kyoto Hannaryz, 85-81, at the City Hall Plaza Ao-re Nagaoka on Saturday.

Paras' spectacular professional debut where he added four assists and two steals to his 25 points was soured by the close loss.

Niigata had a nine-point lead at the half, 50-41, with Paras' hot start but it was quickly negated when they were outscored, 25-17, in the third salvo.

Going into the final quarter, Albirex only had a one-point lead, 67-66.

In the fourth, Paras found himself on the bench in the early goins of the fourth quarter.

This helped Kyoto take control of the game and at one point led by eight, 76-68 with 7:39 ticks left.

Niigata attempted to get back into the game and threatened to steal the win when Paras was able to force a turnover with 15 seconds remaining in the game with the team only trailing by three, 81-84.

But Yuto Nohmi would miss on a three-point attempt that gave the ball back to Kyoto.

Justin Harper would then split at the line for Kyoto to arrive at the final score.

Playing back up to Paras was his fellow import Rosco Allen who finished with a double-double of 19 points and 15 rebounds.

David Simon topscored for Hannaryz with a game-high 28 markers.

Niigata and Kyoto meet again Sunday.